Improvement in cotton-pickers



NQF. sANnELlN.

y Improvement in Cotton Pickers. e No. 124,978. PatentedMarcn 26,1872.

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UNITEE STAfrEs PATENT @EEICE4 NILS F. S'ANDELIN, OFNEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF, EDWARD VO. JENKINS, OF SAME PLACE, AND JOHN PAULSON, OF VASA, MINN.

IMPROVEMENT IN COTTON-PICKERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 124,978, dated March 26, 1872.

SPECIFICATION. I, NILs F. SANDELIN, of the county and `State of New York, have invented a new and Improved MachineforPieliin g Cotton, ofwhich the following is aA specification:

My invention has for its object to effect a great saving of la-bor by picking 'cotton by means of a machine mounted on wheels and drawn by two horses; and also to elfect a saving ofthe staple by picking only the ripe cotton. 'lhis is accomplished by means of a series of revolving arms or reels, provided with bristles or brushes, and laterally adjustable on a shaft, which receives its motion from the main `wheels by intermediate belting or gearing. To the said reel-brushes, revolvingas the machine moves forward, the cotton adheres and is'again deposited on or taken o by a series of stationary arms, also provided with bristles, and attached to the frame work of the machine, from which arms it is raked of by Ineans of adjustableralres, also provided with bristles, and lastly deposited in a bag suspended in a suitable position on the frame. The raking is done by two persons standing on a platform in the rear part of the machine. The horses are hitched one in front of each wheel, and thus walk in the furrows on either side of the drift or row of plants, which latter thus alwaysoccupy a position directly under and parallel with the center line of the machine. My invention also relates to the construction and arran gementof the various parts, as will be hereinafter mere fully described.

In the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 represents a top or plan view of my improved cctton-pieker, of about one-sixteenth of the full size. Figui). is a side elevation ot' the same, partially sectioned through the line x of Fig.

1. Fig 3 is a side view of the adjustable cotton-rake. Fig. L is a front view of the same7 in the direction ofthe arrow in Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts.

A is the general frame-work of the machine, consisting of two inner beams, a, two outer beams, al, the curved front cross-braces a2 and a3, the uprights a4 and a5, rear cross-beam a6,

The braces a? and ai reach- 1n g across the longitudinal inner beams c are made in the form of an arch of sufficient ele vation in the center to pass clear of the cotton-plants when the picker is in operation. To the center of a2 is pivoted a bar, B, for attaching the horses. another crossbar, C, to the ends of which are Inovably attached the rods b, sliding in the slotted uprights a4 on the beams a, one on either side of the machine, to which rods bare attached the whitliletrees c. The bar U, rods b, and whiiiietrees c, together, constitute a draftequalizer for the horses, which equ'a-lizerlwill call D. Between the beams a and al, and mounted in bearings on the same beams, are placed the wheels E and E', to the axles of which are rigidly attached the pulleys d, connected by belts to other pulleys e, which are keyed on the shaft F, which carries the picking-reels. This shaft F is supported in bearings on loose beams G, the ends of which iit in slots and are adjustable in holes f in the uprights a4 and a5 of the frame A, for the purpose of raising and lowering the shaft F, and, thereby, also the picking-reel, according to the height ofthe drill of cotton-plants. The friction-rollers j" and g serve to tighten the belts on the pulleys d and e. The latter roller g is pivoted to a bar, g', sliding in a guide on the beam G, and operated by the adjustable lever H, so that the roller g may be withdrawn from the belt and the wheel E run loose-that is, independent ofthe other wheel E in turning a curve as in turning the machine in on a new row or drill after finishing the pickin g of another. The whole length of the shaft F, between its bearings is made square, to receive and cause to revolve with it the'sqira-re hubs h, of the picking-reels I, which may be slid along on the shaft F, and secured to the same at an y suitable distances apart by means of the set-screws c'. The reels are furthermore se cured and braced in position by the stays i', which may be provided with collars and setscrews between each reel if necessary. Each of these reels consists of a number ot' thin, Jdat curved arms, having a common square hub, h. These arms serve as bacltin g for brushes, bound in thin plates, covering and secured to the said arms on either side. By adjusting the reels I at proper distances apart, on the shaft F, they will, in revolving, as the machine moves forward, inclose the plants between these To the center of a is pivoted will be in position to prevent the raking. The

brushes, and when the bristles have the proper stiffness will brush off only the ripe cotton, which is easiest separated, and which will adhere to the bristles and be carried up with the upward movement of the reel, and deposited on the stationary reel-cleaners J attached to the upright c5 of the frame A. These reelcleaners are constructed with brushes or bristles on either side, similar to the arms ot' the reels I, and are laterally adjustable by bolts and nuts securable in slots to the horizontal cross-beam of the upright a5. vThe reel-cleaners J are prevented from lateral deviation, by bending from their true position, by stays or braces h2, attached to their forward ends, and secured adjustably in slots to the horizontal cross-beam `of the upright a4. The reel-cleaners J are set at such distances apart that each of them will, as the reels revolve, pass between the two inner sides of two ofthe arms thereof, the bristles on either sideof the reel-cleaner J sweeping otf the cotton from the bristles ofthe inner opposite sides of the reels I. The pro portional sizes ofthe pulleys d and e are such that the pickin g-reels will make not more than one revolution for two of the Wheels E E, or such that either ot' two men standing' (one at each side ofthe machine) on the platform a7, will have time, alternately, to pass one brushrake, K, with its bristled pron ,frs k, (Figs. Sand 4,) between the reel-cleaners J, just at the moment when one set of arms of the reels have passed the cleaners J, and before the next set brush-rake K is so constructed that, on a square rod, attached to the handle ofthe rake, the prongs 7c, provided with brushes or blistles on either side, and a square hollow hub with set-screw at their upper end, to t the said square rod, may be slid on the said rod and secured in proper position, to enter between the cleaners J, and engage in their bristlesfor removing the cotton deposited on them. In pulling out the rake K from between the cleaners J, the bristles on the prongs k of the rake will engage with the bristles j on the vertical part of the cleaners J, and thus the cottonfibers will leave the rake and adhere to the brushes j', from which they are then swept down by hand into a bag, l, underneath the brushes j; said bag;` being suspended on hooksV to the frame L, attached to the upright a5 of the general machine frame A. M is a frame, with seat and foot-board 'for the driver. N is another frame for attaching an awning, to protect as well the driver as the rakers from the rays of the sun.

Claims.

l. The picking-reels I and the reel-cleaners J, constructed as described, in combinationv with each other and with the shaft F, and upf substantially as spec- I) and bar B, with the arched braces a a3, and,

the beams a of the frame A, substantially as specified.

The above specification of my invention signed by me this 18th day of July, 1871.

NLLSv F. SANDELIN. Witnesses:

J oHN HORAN, A. W. ALMQVIs'r. 

